The Rain
by SawManiac211
Summary: Wasn't planning on writing this, but decieded to anyway. Sequal to The Shadowy Angel and from Skulduggery's POV. Please R&R. You need to read The Shadowy Angel to understand it, but more of Skulduggery's past is revealed...


It had started raining soon after their first encounter with Angel DiFaro.

Valkyrie had been strangely quiet for a change; he hadn't cared much because his expensive suit had been getting soaked and he'd left the Bentley behind trying to find her again. When they'd finally got to the Hibernian Cinema, Kenspeckle had been waiting for them.

"You are in _soooo_ much trouble." Valkyrie had grinned. Honestly, why was she always so pleased when he got into trouble with someone? Even so, the look on Kenspeckle's face had been enough to make him walk slightly more slowly than he had been. Valkyrie had noticed and smirked. He'd glared at her.

"SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT!" Kenspeckle had yelled. "GET OVER HERE, _NOW!_"

"Told you you were in trouble." Valkyrie had said cheerfully. She'd practically skipped down to the picture of a door on the projector screen, where Tanith had been waiting for her. They'd giggled, looked at him, and walked through the door. He'd sighed and turned back to Kenspeckle.

"So," He would have smiled a very cheesy grin if he'd had the right facial muscles. "Did you use air spray? I would use Airwick if I were you; they're really effective" The look Kenspeckle had given him silenced him.

"Skulduggery," Kenspeckle had said quietly. He'd been sure Kenspeckle's hair had got slightly greyer since the last time they had met. "I do not appreciate being used as a dumping ground for bodies and danger. My work is to help people; a safe haven for those who are in need. Not to hide secrets from the Sanctuary."

"The Sanctuary is falling apart at the seams," He'd protested. "Remus Crux is dead, Thurid Guild can't admit that he's wrong, and instead of targeting the main problem they're coming after _me_. Which I would take as a complement if I hadn't saved the world quite a few times and been pulled through the gateway by the Faceless Ones, only to find that when I get back I've been made a fugitive. _Again_."

"Skulduggery, _think_." Kenspeckle had pleaded with him. "Thurid Guild has a reason not to trust you. You've only been on the Sanctuary's side for three years of the war and the time you've had after you'd been brought back to life. Don't they have a right to suspect you?"

He wouldn't admit it, but Kenspeckle was right…

It had been raining-no, storming-on his 50th meeting with Vengeous. However, this time he hadn't been sure why Vengeous wanted him this time. As they'd walked down the dungeon corridor, the lights in brackets on the wall had cast a glow over their features as they'd walked past the various doors of the cells; Vengeous's cruel and sharp, his young, handsome. He'd hoped Rose and Emily were inside; they'd get soaked in this weather.

"Congratulations on your battle plan, Mr Pleasant." Vengeous had said. He hardly ever gave praise. "Not only did we eliminate some of the Sanctuary's toughest fighters, we captured around half of the army. They're being, uh, 'interviewed' right now." A piercing scream cut the air. Skulduggery winced. "Then again, I don't think we should be too surprised about the outcome. You've been my second-in-command for over ten years now, and thanks to you we've never lost a battle. With any luck this whole…_interference_…will be over by Christmas."

"Thank you sir." He'd said, grinning like a fool. "It'll be good to be with the family again." He'd brushed some dust off his suit. He'd been fond of them even then-Rose had said that he looked a lot like Johnny Depp with them on.

Vengeous smiled humourlessly. "I wouldn't be too sure about that…" He'd murmured.

Oh, he'd been worried then. _Was it something I've done?_ He'd thought. He'd seen other more senior generals being executed by Vengeous for treachery, but he hadn't done anything. Then the chilling thought had struck him: _Is he going to kill ME?_

He hadn't been.

But that was the worst part.

They'd stopped by one of the doors. It gave off a sense of foreboding, of the stench of sweat, of torture, blood and death.

"Enter." Vengeous had commanded him. He'd done so. And been confronted by the sight of his wife and child. Emily was crying; the sound pierced his heart.

"_Why are they here?_" He'd screamed at Vengeous, suddenly petrified. He'd seen so much of war; of death, torture and pure human misery; and had never batted an eyelid. But this-seeing his wife and daughter chained in a torture cell-scared him more than he could imagine.

"When we captured the camp of the army, we found them with the commander of that army. Ghastly Bespoke, I think it was. They helped him escape." He'd stared at Rose, the woman he loved, unable to comprehend what Vengeous was saying. Unable to.

"They were on the other side all the time. They've been giving them valuable information about battle plans, weapon manufactures, and official documents. They've been spying on you the entire time."

"Skulduggery, it wasn't like that." Rose had lifted her head, her usually vibrant red hair hanging limply round her face, her eyes pleading with him to understand.

"She never loved you. She only married you to stay close to you, to be able to find out valuable information for the Sanctuary, and brought her daughter up that way too; a mini assassin, like mother, like daughter-"

"SKULDUGGERY PLEASE I NEVER-" Rose had let out a yelp of pain as Vengeous raised the sceptre, used its full force of power on her body.

"Why are you showing me this?" Skulduggery had asked hoarsely. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off Rose's cowering form, Emily's crying face.

"To test your loyalty." Vengeous chucked him the sceptre. "It's quite easy to operate."

"Kill these traitors, Skulduggery Pleasant. Kill them, and show your loyalty to me."

His fingers curled around the cold metal of the sceptre. He hadn't been able to believe that it was happening, had been sure that it was happening to someone else; it had felt like he was watching from a distance.

"Skulduggery…" Rose's voice had sounded so weak. He'd wanted so much to put his arms round her, to chuck the sceptre away from him and hold her shuddering body close to his. But he hadn't. She'd raised her head to stare into his eyes, the green into the black, and a tear fell down her face. He'd remembered…

_It had been raining on the anniversary of their marriage. Well, it was quite apt really, because it had been raining when they had exchanged their vows._

_The three of them had spent the day looking through their old photographs, telling Emily the stories behind each one._

"_That's when we were at college. Your father had just got beaten up by a girl."_

"_I was not!"_

"_You so were!"_

"_I wasn't, I was just mentally unprepared for the attack-she hadn't given me time to focus!"_

"_Enough time to gel your hair, more like-God, you were arrogant then!"_

"_I still am-I'm just a lot hotter!"_

"_Skulduggery…" Rose had groaned. "Have you ever considered thinking about other people?"_

"_I was thinking of Tanith Low's face when I didn't beat the crap out of her in college." He'd held up his hands to shield himself as Rose had assaulted him with a pillow. "Hey, watch the face!"_

"_You. Arrogant. GIT!" Rose had panted, puncturing each word with a blow with the pillow, before collapsing with laughter. Emily had chortled, enjoying watching her parents beating each other up._

"_You know what; let's have our own family photo!" He'd exclaimed, grabbing the camera. Rose had stood up, holding Emily._

"_Alright, smile!" He'd slipped his arm around Rose's waist. And they'd waited._

"_Uhh…how do you work the camera?" Rose had burst out laughing. And the camera went off, freezing the moment in time._

_Now, Emily was fast asleep between them, exhausted from the fun of the day. He'd sat there, with Rose's head on his shoulder, listening to the rain pattering on the glass out in the dark night._

"_Trust you to muck up the camera!" Rose had laughed quietly._

"_I did not muck up the camera, I just wasn't"_

"_Mentally prepared for taking a photo?" Rose had laughed and he'd smiled ruefully._

"_I wasn't exactly mentally prepared for falling in love with you either." He'd remarked drowsily. Rose had leaned in and kissed him on the cheek._

"_I know," She'd murmured. "Neither was I." And they'd both listened to the rain outside, holding each other close, Emily smiling happily in her sleep between them…_

"Skulduggery…" Rose had pulled him back to the present. She'd leaned forward, and spoken softly, only to him. "Please…" He'd looked into her eyes and saw the love that he'd always known had been there, the tears he wanted to wipe away. The rain had beat against the side of the fortress, building up its own climax.

He'd tried to speak.

He hadn't been able to say what he wanted.

"I'm sorry." He'd finally croaked. And lifted the sceptre.

Every scream, every snap of a bone breaking had torn at his heart. By the time Rose had given one last gasp of air, and Emily had closed her eyes forever, it had felt non existent. As Vengeous nodded curtly and swept out of the room, he'd crouched by Rose's body and tried to cry, tried to let out some of the grief, tried to let out the swamping guilt at killing his own family. But it couldn't come. He kissed Rose's forehead, stroked back Emily's hair. He'd been sure he'd seen her move, but the bitterness of it all slapped him in the face. She was dead and gone-the two people he'd ever cared for, gone forever-and he had to go on living, go on sending other people to their deaths so that Vengeous could rule supreme. A wall of had hatred engulfed him, he almost broke but not quite. Not yet. Not yet.

_He'd fought against Vengeous, using his skills in battle against him, helping the Sanctuary bring him down. They didn't trust him-that much was clear-but they needed him. Clinging to him like sailors in a sinking ship. Only Ghastly Bespoke-the only one who knew him through Rose and Emily-trusted him entirely. They'd even made it to something bordering friendship._

_Plenty of girls had fallen for him, despite his shadowy past-China Sorrows was one of them-but although he flirted, he never dated any of them. Even when he'd finally been captured and brought to Vengeous, even when Vengeous had smiled that tight, humourless smile and raised the sceptre, the last word on his tongue was a name._

_Rose._

_And then suddenly he was back, back from the dead in his rotten body; a living skeleton. He didn't want this, he wanted to be with Emily and Rose, and he wanted to stay dead and remain dead and not have to worry about the fate of the world any longer. But it seemed the world didn't want to listen to what he wanted and still wished to cling to him, for him to cling to life._

_It had been raining when he'd discovered what he had become. And he still couldn't let the grief out._

_Even when Vengeous had died, even when he'd held the sceptre in his skeletal hands, he felt no triumph._

_The world carried on turning, and bringing him along with it._

When they'd left Kenspeckle-still fuming over Remus Crux's silently rotting corpse-Valkyrie had turned to him.

"Skulduggery…" He'd waited impatiently, the rain soaking through his suit. She had seemed to be able to put her thoughts into words. "Do you love me?" She blurted out suddenly.

He'd lost it. "Of course not!" He'd yelled, startling a soaked cat who was sitting miserably under a doorway, with a surprisingly good imitation of a depressed person on its face. "Why the hell would you think that?"

Valkyrie looked miserable, and slightly scared. "Angel DiFaro said…"

"Angel DiFaro is a murdering bitch." Skulduggery snapped. "Why the hell would you listen to her?" He'd seen Valkyrie's expression and relented. "Look," He'd said gently. "I don't love you, but I do care for you as a partner and," he'd paused, not sure whether to say it. "As a daughter." Valkyrie looked up sharply. "But I don't love you in that way," He'd concluded hurriedly. "OK?"

Valkyrie nodded, and handed him something. "She gave me this."

Skulduggery looked at it. It was the photo of that day ages ago, where they'd laughed and joked and Rose had rested her head on his shoulder and they'd listened to the rain…

He almost broke. But again, he didn't.

"Come on," He'd said briskly, tucking the photo into his suit, close to where his heart should have been. "Let's go and get the Bentley. If that _Benjamina_ has damaged it…" He laughed slightly as they walked down the street. _Benjamina_. It always cracked him up.

Now, it was raining again. And they were fighting Angel DiFaro for the last time. He watched as Valkyrie was thrown backwards through the air, clicked up a fireball and threw it at Angel. He missed her, but only just. They'd been chasing her for 2 hours, and he sensed that she was tiring.

All the times they'd encountered her, and she was being beaten by fatigue. It was only a matter of time until she made a mistake.

She hurled a knife at him and darted to the side to avoid another fireball. The knife tore through his suit, but he barely noticed it. He grasped the air and pinned Angel to the wall. She winced and struggled uselessly. With cold triumph he pulled out his pistol and aimed. She froze and closed her eyes.

"_Skulduggery, don't!_" Valkyrie screamed, stepping in front of Angel.

"_What the hell are you doing?"_ He was annoyed. Actually, annoyed wasn't the word. He was _mad_.

"You can't kill her!" Valkyrie seemed to be about to drop some kind of bombshell.

"Why?" He snapped. "What has that bitch done for me?"

And then the bomb went off. Bang.

"She's your daughter, Skulduggery."

Everything went very quiet. He looked at Angel-no, Emily-and understood everything and nothing.

And the rain came down.

"Why?" He whispered. He set Emily down. She looked at him.

"I've been trying to find you for 18 years." She said. She sounded like Rose. "It wasn't very difficult-there aren't very many living skeletons around here." Her lips twitched. "I kinda arranged for you to be brought back to life. I hope you're not too mad at me for doing that."

He felt numb. Suddenly he wasn't sure what to do.

"Hello dad." She said, and he walked towards her, to hug her close and tell her how much he'd missed her and listen to her story as the rain poured down.

**Sorry, I had to break in here. Just to say that I would've loved to give Skulduggery a happy ending, but it just wouldn't fit in. If you want to labour under the impression that he and his daughter really do have the happy ending, then please stop reading now.**

**Sorry about that.**

**SawManiac211**

Thurid Guild stepped out from the shadows and fired.

The gunshot was strangely silent as he saw Emily stop and look down at the hole in her chest. Her lips curved into a smile as she sank to her knees. He caught her before she hit the ground, looking into her eyes, trying to stop what he couldn't stop, save what he couldn't save.

The rain washed the blood that was leaking between his fingers.

She looked up at him, and he could see the 5-year old girl that he once knew all that time ago when he still thought the world was black and white and nothing in between.

"Dad…" She whispered one last time. And then her eyes rolled up in her head. She was gone.

And the rain continued to hit the ground, her body, her face.

Skulduggery stood up and fired, aiming his gun at Thurid Guild. But he disappeared in a mist of moisture, and the bullet struck the wall and bounced back to him, punching a hole in his suit. He felt it come out the other side and fall to the ground.

There was no blood to be shed, no nerves to feel pain.

No proper life to lose.

He crouched by Emily's body whilst Valkyrie quietly called Tanith and Ghastly to come round with the Bentley on her cell phone. He broke then, but he had no tears to cry, no eyes to shed them for all he'd lost, all he wanted and all that could never happen.

So he let the sky cry them for him.


End file.
